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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Report CITY OF COLUMBIA HEIGHTS PLANNING REPORT CASE NUMBER: 2009-0903 DATE: September 1, 2009 TO: Columbia Heights Planning Commission APPLICANT: City of Columbia Heights LOCATION: City Wide REQUEST: Zoning Amendment for Smoke Shops PREPARED BY: Jeff Sargent, City Planner BACKGROUND On May 26, 2009, the City Council issued a six-month emergency moratorium on smoke shops within the City of Columbia Heights. Prior to the moratorium, the City of Columbia Heights had four (4) licensed smoke shops, one (1) pending application, and three (3) other applications for a smoke shop distributed but not yet formally applied for. This equaled a potential of seven (7) smoke shops in the City of Columbia Heights’ commercial corridor, with the possibility of additional stores based on existing vacancies.The moratorium has given staff time to study the effects of multiple smoke shop uses within a small geographic commercial corridor. The State of Minnesota’s Freedom to Breathe Act (FBA) was established to prohibit people from smoking inside buildings opened to the public. A provision of the FBA allows patrons of smoke shop establishments to sample tobacco products inside the building and prior to purchasing the merchandise for personal use. The intent of this provision was to give patrons an opportunity to purchase the type of tobacco they desired, not to give smoke shops the discretion to operate a smoking parlor. City Staff feels strongly about preserving the intent of the Freedom to Breathe Act, which attempts to increase the quality of life and public welfare by banning smoking in public places. The Freedom to Breathe Act, however, does not implicitly define the term “sampling”. For this reason, it becomes extremely difficult to enforce the FBA when smoke shops allow multiple patrons to “sample” tobacco products in their store for long periods of time. For this reason, staff recommends a zoning amendment that would prohibit the sampling of City of Columbia Heights Planning Commission September 1, 2009 City of Columbia Heights, Smoke Shops Case # 2009-0903 tobacco and/or tobacco-related products within smoke shops and other public buildings. The State’s Clean Indoor Act at Section 144.417 Subd. 4 (a) allows Columbia Heights to enact and enforce more stringent measures to protect individuals from secondhand smoke. Staff will also recommend a Municipal Code amendment that would establish a new tobacco license specific to smoke shops, thus differentiating them from tobacco licenses given to gas stations, convenience stores, etc. The amendment would also limit the number of licenses issued in a year to smoke shops to five (5). Staff conducted a survey of 5 other cities to determine how many licenses each city has issued for smoke shop uses. A smoke shop is defined as a retail business in which no less than 90% of the retail sales derive from the sale of tobacco or tobacco related products. The results are as follows: City of Crystal : 1 City of New Hope: 1 City of Robbinsdale: 1 City of Fridley: 1 City of New Brighton: 0 Staff feels that allowing a high number of businesses that promote an unhealthy lifestyle usually evidences a less viable economic environment and is not conducive to a strong economic commercial future. COMPREHENSIVE PLAN One of the goals of the Comprehensive Plan is to enhance the economic viability of the community. The proposed amendment would be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan because limiting the number of smoke shop licenses would improve the economic viability of the City. An overarching goal of the Comprehensive Plan is to ensure the safety and welfare of the general public. By adhering the to intent of the Freedom to Breathe Act and by disallowing sampling or any type of smoking in a public building, compliance with the Comprehensive Plan will be met. ZONING ORDINANCE Currently, the Zoning Ordinance allows smoke shops as retail establishments in the LB, Limited Business, GB, General Business, and CBD, Central Business Districts as a permitted use. The proposed amendment would still allow for smoke shops as a permitted use in all commercial districts, however more specified regulations would be placed on smoke shops by subjecting them to some Specific Development Standards. These specific regulations include: (a) The smoke shop must have an entrance door opening directly to the Page 2 City of Columbia Heights Planning Commission September 1, 2009 City of Columbia Heights, Smoke Shops Case # 2009-0903 outdoors. (b) The primary revenue for the business is generated from the sale of tobacco, tobacco products or smoking related accessories. (c) A tobacco department or section of any individual business establishment with any type of liquor, food or restaurant license shall not be considered a smoke shop. (d) Sampling of lighted tobacco products is prohibited at all times. (e) The total number of City-issued Smoke Shop Licenses shall at no time exceed five (5). (f) Any existing smoke shops at the time of the passage of this ordinance shall comply fully with the ordinance by December 31, 2010. The intent of this ordinance is to ensure that at no point will there be more than five (5) smoke shop licenses issued throughout the City. The existing four smoke shops in the City at the time of the passage of this ordinance will be counted towards the five smoke shop maximum. FINDINGS OF FACT Section 9.104 (F) of the Columbia Heights zoning code requires that the City Council make each of the following four findings before approving a zoning amendment: 1. The amendment is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan. One of the goals of the Comprehensive Plan is to enhance the economic viability of the community. The proposed amendment would be consistent with the Comprehensive Plan because limiting the number of smoke shop licenses would improve the economic viability of the City. An overarching goal of the Comprehensive Plan is to ensure the safety and welfare of the general public. By adhering the to intent of the Freedom to Breathe Act and by disallowing sampling or any type of smoking in a public building, compliance with the Comprehensive Plan will be met. 2. The amendment is in the public interest and is not solely for the benefit of a single property owner. The proposed amendment would affect all commercially zoned properties throughout the city and is not solely for the benefit of a single property owner. 3. Where the amendment is to change the zoning classification of a particular Page 3 City of Columbia Heights Planning Commission September 1, 2009 City of Columbia Heights, Smoke Shops Case # 2009-0903 property, the existing use of the property and the zoning classification of property within the general area of the property in question are compatible with the proposed zoning classification. The amendment would not change the zoning classification of a particular property. 4. Where the amendment is to change the zoning classification of a particular property, there has been a change in the character or trend of development in the general area of the property in question, which has taken place since such property was placed in the current zoning classification. The amendment would not change the zoning classification of a particular property. RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval of the proposed Zoning Amendment. Motion: That the Planning Commission recommends that the City Council approve the proposed zoning amendment. Attachments  Draft zoning ordinance  Draft municipal ordinance Page 4